A high-stakes NATO summit kicked off in Ankara, Turkey on Wednesday, with U.S. President Donald Trump taking center stage for tense negotiations with the alliance’s 31 other member leaders following a ceremonial welcome from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Upon arriving in the Turkish capital, Trump struck a divided tone: he lavished praise on Erdogan, noting the strong personal “chemistry” between the two leaders, while repeating longstanding criticism of the alliance as a whole. “I was very disappointed with NATO,” Trump told reporters, setting a combative backdrop for the main summit opening at 08:15 GMT. His criticism comes amid years of pressure from the Trump administration for NATO members to meet their long-unfulfilled defense spending pledges, as Washington shifts its strategic focus away from European security.
The 77-year-old transatlantic alliance has moved pre-emptively to defuse confrontation with Trump. On the eve of the summit, NATO released new figures showing core European defense spending rose 11% in 2026 to hit $634 billion, up from $571 billion the previous year. Alliance members also unveiled tens of billions of dollars in new arms procurement contracts on Tuesday to demonstrate progress on spending commitments. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stressed that European allies are already delivering on their promises, boosting military budgets and taking greater ownership of continental defense in the face of Russian aggression.
Beyond defense spending, the war in Ukraine is a top agenda item for the gathering. Trump has publicly stated he believes both Moscow and Kyiv are eager to reach a negotiated end to the conflict. Ahead of a scheduled sideline meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a U.S. official confirmed Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin before traveling to Turkey, and plans to hold follow-up talks with the Russian leader after meeting with Zelenskyy. Currently, peace negotiations remain deadlocked, but Europe and Canada have committed to maintaining 70 billion euros ($80 billion) in annual military aid to Ukraine for both 2026 and 2027. Despite the pledged support, Zelenskyy urged a NATO defense forum on Tuesday to accelerate deliveries of air defense interceptors—where Kyiv is facing critical shortages—and reiterated his call for Ukraine to move forward with its NATO accession process.
The summit will also see a historic meeting between Trump and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who is working to rebuild Syria’s international standing after decades of civil war. The meeting comes one day after al-Sharaa hosted French President Emmanuel Macron for a landmark visit, which was marred by twin bombings in central Damascus that left 18 people wounded.
In a bilateral breakthrough with Turkey, Trump offered major concessions to Erdogan during talks at the leader’s opulent marble presidential palace. Trump confirmed he would consider lifting existing U.S. sanctions on Turkey and readmitting Ankara to the U.S.-led F-35 stealth fighter jet program. Turkey was expelled from the F-35 project in 2019 after purchasing a Russian air defense system, and U.S. sanctions have since hampered Ankara’s national defense projects and strained bilateral ties. “We’re going to be taking the sanctions off,” Trump said. “We don’t want to sanction friends.” Erdogan, seated beside Trump, expressed confidence that the long-running F-35 and sanctions dispute would finally be resolved.